circus

Plural: circi, circuses, circusses

Noun

• A traveling show featuring acrobats, clowns, and animals.
• a travelling company of entertainers; including trained animals
  • "he ran away from home to join the circus"
• a performance given by a traveling company of acrobats, clowns, and trained animals
  • "the children always love to go to the circus"
• a frenetic disorganized (and often comic) disturbance suggestive of a large public entertainment
  • "it was so funny it was a circus"
• (antiquity) an open-air stadium for chariot races and gladiatorial games
• an arena consisting of an oval or circular area enclosed by tiers of seats and usually covered by a tent
  • "they used the elephants to help put up the circus"
• a genus of haws comprising the harriers
• A traveling company of performers that may include acrobats, clowns, trained animals, and other novelty acts, that gives shows usually in a circular tent.
• A round open space in a town or city where multiple streets meet.
• A spectacle; a noisy fuss; a chaotic and/or crowded place.
• In the ancient Roman Empire, a building for chariot racing.
• A code name for bomber attacks with fighter escorts in the day time. The attacks were against short-range targets with the intention of occupying enemy fighters and keeping their fighter units in the area concerned.
• Circuit; space; enclosure.

Verb

• To take part in a circus; or to be displayed as if in a circus

Examples

• Oxford Circus in London is at the north end of Regent Street.
• The circus will be in town next week.
• The frantic last-minute plays created a scoring circus on the Scrabble board.

Synonyms

carnival, genus Circus

Related Words

circle, circular, CIRCUSY